Groff, Aggies silence Sacramento State to claim series

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Starter Jonathan Groff pitched six shutout innings as New Mexico State defeated host Sacramento State 5-2 Saturday in the rubber match of a three-game Western Athletic Conference baseball set.

Groff (5-4) allowed only two hits with eight strikeouts. Dalton Shalberg earned the save, his first of the year for the Aggies (23-14, 8-1).

Brent Sakurai led off the game with a triple, then scored on a sacrifice fly. He had three hits as the Aggies outhit Sacramento State 11-4. LJ Hatch and Marcus Still added two Aggie hits each.

NMSU, which squandered a twohitter over nine innings by pitcher Marcel Renteria in a 2-1 loss to the Hornets (17-18, 4-8) in 12 innings on Friday, travels to a neutral site in Midland, Texas, on Tuesday against No. 6 Texas Tech (30-8, 7-4 Big 12).

■ Host Texas A&M Kingsville (2410, 10-2 Lone Star) beat Eastern New Mexico (27-15, 5-9) 6-4. It was the Greyhounds' fourth straight loss.

■ In Hobbs, LSU Shreveport romped 9-4 and 16-2 over the University of the Southwest Mustangs in Red River Athletic Conference action. The Mustangs fell to 24-19 and 14-7.

SOFTBALL: In San Diego, Calif., New Mexico (19-18, 5-7) managed only five hits and fell 8-0 in six innings Saturday to host San Diego State (23-14, 7-5) in Mountain West Conference play. The Lobos were swept in the three-game series and outscored 22-3.

Chelsea Johnson went 3-for-3 for the Lobos. Jade Gray and D’Andra DeFlora had New Mexico’s other hits. Lobo starter Tess McPherson took the loss.

The Lobos return to action next weekend, playing on the road at league leader Utah State.

■ In Las Cruces, New Mexico State (20-17, 8-1) run-ruled Western Athletic Conference foe UMKC (13-30, 4-5) in both games, 8-0 and 11-3. Kayla Green (10-10) threw a five-inning two-hitter for the Aggies in game one.

Kelsey Horton went 3-for-3 and hit her ninth homer to key NMSU’s 13-hit attack in the nightcap.